PROGRAM NOTE

As paradoxical as it may seem, I began my work for the Hibari Project by erasing my own music – my 2006 work for solo flute. To overcome the psychological pain of the March 11 disaster, I had to confront the pain itself.

BIOGRAPHY

Laureate of the Gaudeamus Prize 2011, composer and conductor Yoshiaki Onishi is currently in his fourth year as a doctorate candidate in music composition and a teaching fellow at Columbia University in the City of New York. As a composer, Onishi's music has been performed worldwide by such ensembles as JACK Quartet, Next Mushroom Promotion, and Nieuw Ensemble. His music has been heard in Europe, Asia, and the United States. As a conductor he has worked enthusiastically with many young and established composers. He has conducted various ensembles in New York and beyond, including the Talea Ensemble, the Wet Ink Ensemble, the Iktus Percussion, the Yale Philharmonia, the Next Mushroom Promotion (Japan) and so on, sometimes on very short notice. http://www.yoshionishi.com

PROGRAM NOTE

After I decided to participate in the project, my father collapsed. Then I was taking care of my dad and composing at the same time. ...The character "tsu..." was originally from "tsunami". Even though my dad's struggle with illness is a seesaw, he has gotten better, little by little. That transformed "tsu…" into the first letter from "tsuzuku" (continue)....

BIOGRAPHY

Momoko Oya graduated from Toho Gakuen School of Music, where she pursued further study on the graduate course. The Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs supported her study in Germany. Her composition teachers were Yasuo Sueyoshi, Wolfgang Rihm, and György Ligeti. Oya received prizes such as the second prize at the Music Competition of Japan and special prize for stage work by Agency for Cultural Affairs. Currently she teaches at Toho Gakuen School of Music, Aoyama Gakuin Women's Junior College, and Seitoku Universty. Oya is a conductor of Chor Momo and a member of the composers' collective, OTO.